


sunshine and a blue pickup

by checkmateslash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Lotor is a twat, M/M, Minor Violence, Pining Keith (Voltron), Summer AU, i'm shatt trash so they're a sideship, implied emotional abuse, one day i will be good to lance but not today, plot device!lotor, slash high school grads au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 16:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9829889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/checkmateslash/pseuds/checkmateslash
Summary: Keith remembered Lance’s heartbroken face when Keith had shown him his acceptance letter to Oregon State two years ago, how Lance had tried to force a smile onto his face to say ‘congratulations’ but had only ended up asking ‘why’ instead.Keith had said he’d just needed a change, but the truth was he’d been running away. He shouldn’t have let Lance’s relationship with Lotor dictate his life but the thought of going away so he wouldn’t have to watch it had sounded so good. It just hurt. Watching Lance with someone else had always hurt.“... I needed you.” Lance’s admittance hit Keith in the chest like a kick from a horse, and he was crying again, but not out of anger this time. The salt from his tears stung at his split lip, and not for the first time that day Keith didn’t know what to say.“I’m sorry.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yuisaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuisaki/gifts).



> inspired heavily by girls like girls by hayley kiyoko. freaking love that song and music video. i'm trash for sad lance. i'm sorry.

**REUNION PARTY**

July 13th

Lance’s House

Lance invited you to this event.

**Interested | Going | Ignore**

 

“I think this will be good for you. You haven’t left the house all summer, Keith.” Shiro insisted, but Keith was stubbornly ignoring him in lieu of staring out the window at the foothills of his hometown. If anything, being MIA for so long just made seeing everyone from high school harder - choosing to go away for college had been a decision Keith was glad he made, but he’d spent the two years in another state watching all of the Snapchat stories and Instagram posts of parties back here, where the sun shined and soccer moms with A-Line haircuts didn’t hesitate to yell at you if you looked in their direction the wrong way. He hadn’t missed it. But he’d missed _Lance_ , and that was the extent of it. He told himself it had everything to do with the fact that they’d grown up together and _nothing_ to do with the fact that he’d been hopelessly in love with him since their sophomore year in high school. Or perhaps forever.

“I’m not really in the mood to associate with Lance’s boyfriend, Shiro.” he finally replied, tone bone dry as the withering grass.

“You both used to be cool with him, Keith.” there was Shiro’s parent voice; Keith hated it when he used it, if anything it made Keith want to do the exact opposite of whatever Shiro was trying to persuade him to do. _Authority issues,_ his old foster mom’s voice echoed in his skull.

“ _Used to_. Even you used the past tense.” Keith insisted, and Shiro’s sigh rivalled the one Keith let out at the same exact time. He could feel the anxiety creeping up on him…

Lotor had been a pretty good friend of theirs in high school, but had made Keith angry once or twice purely because of his douchey nature and bad-boy attitude. It wasn’t something that Keith had taken pride in, but _he_ had been the resident mysterious bad-boy. He’s pretty sure it had nothing to do with him being mysterious and everything to do with the fact that he was best friends with Lance, who wore his heart on his sleeve and was overly-friendly, so they contrasted in comparison. Everyone knew who Lance was, and Keith by extension, but Keith was much more quiet and kept to himself. And then Lotor came along and messed everything up.

Everyone had been enamored with him, including Lance. Keith had faded into the background.

Excuse him for being bitter. And choosing to go to school an entire state away because he’d felt like no one would miss him.

He kept the hurt look Lance had given him when he’d shown him his acceptance letter locked up in a vault because he hated knowing he was the reason for it.

Keith still felt like he was probably an afterthought in everyone’s lives, just a little bit, even if Lance did call him almost every day because he happened to get out of work around the same time Keith got out of classes.

As he and Shiro pulled up to the house Lance shared with Lotor, he took in the old pickup truck sitting in the driveway. He remembered when Lance got that truck; had been sitting in the garage on his phone pretending he knew the automotive garble Lance and his dad had been talking when they’d been fixing it up, when they’d put the finishing touch on the engine and his dad had told Lance that it was his.

Lance had taken it out for a spin with Keith and had almost immediately wrecked it when they almost sped off into a ditch while joy riding in the empty lot by their neighborhood.

Good to know it was still in working order.

He scooted out of Shiro’s car, carefully closing the door behind him and taking in the neighborhood, trying to reign in his nerves as Shiro knocked on the door.

It had been two years since Keith had seen Lance in person, but he didn’t really look all that different when he opened the door. Blue eyes lit up like the fourth of July, and Lance bypassed Shiro to get straight to Keith, wrapping him up in lanky, familiar limbs. Unlike with most people, Keith didn’t hesitate to hug back, only letting out a small noise of complaint when Lance tightened his grip on him.

“I missed you.” oh god, he knew Lance’s crying voice and that was _definitely_ Lance’s crying voice.

“Sorry.” Keith apologized awkwardly, and when Lance pulled away he wiped his eyes on the flannel covering his arms, giving Keith a wet smile.

“Hey, Shiro.” he said finally, and gave Shiro a hug as well even though it was with considerably less emotion.

“Nice to see you, Lance.” Shiro patted him on the back, and then moved passed him to go inside when he heard the beer pong game going in the living room, leaving Lance and Keith alone in the doorway.

Keith had known Lance since he’d been adopted into Shiro’s family at six years old, but even though this boy felt like home this wasn’t the house he was used to. He felt a bit like an outsider.

“Come on!” Lance draped an arm over his shoulders, dragging him into the house and shutting the door behind them. Keith stayed there plastered at his side awkwardly. “I didn’t know you were coming.” Lance led the way into the kitchen, sounding mildly annoyed.

Keith had ignored Lance’s texts about coming, because he didn’t really want to go but he didn’t want to _tell_ Lance that he didn’t want to. The message app still had the icons, because he didn’t want to leave Lance on read, even if Lance knew him well enough that he had probably figured his silence was a no.

“Yeah… I’ve been taking a summer class so-...” he should’ve known better than to make an excuse, because Lance let go of him then to glare at him. There was no heat behind it, but Keith knew that meant to stop trying.

“Keith! Long time no see.”

Keith wished it were longer. He grimaced as Lotor ruffled his hair, squirming out of his reach and trying to force a smile onto his face. It didn’t work, he kept grimacing. “Yeah…”

“How’s school?” Lotor nudged Lance out of the way so that he could grab a bottle of beer, cracking it open before tugging Lance close. Keith felt like he might be sick.

“Fine.” is all he supplied, glancing away as Lance relaxed his head back onto his boyfriend’s shoulder to whisper something into his ear. He’d never been more happy to see Pidge walk into a room than in that moment, even if she was glaring daggers at him.

“Um, excuse me. It’s been two years and you didn’t even _bother_ to come say hi to me?” she accused, but despite her words she was moving closer and Keith met her halfway to wrap her up in a hug. She clung there, and it didn’t seem like she had any intent on letting him go any time soon. He clung back, and only thought about moving away when he heard Lotor scoff in response to something Lance said.

“How’ve you been?” Keith asked Pidge, trying to ignore the whispered argument going on no more than five feet away from them.

“Good. How about you?” the small-talk was too try-hard and they both knew it, but it was hard to remain casual with Lotor and Lance arguing.

“Good.” good was an overstatement, but he could get into the details of his lonely two-year college experience later, maybe when everyone else was around so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself.

“You don’t have to I just think-” and then Lotor was shoving Lance away from him. Both Pidge and Keith had to hold each other back from going at him. “Real mature.” Lance sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest as Lotor took another sip of his beer. Their argument seemed to be silent this time, eyes locked with Lance looking somewhere between angry and concerned, and Lotor looking nothing but ready to fight. It was like that for a good minute, everyone silent before Lotor turned on his heel and exited the room, leaving Lance, Pidge, and Keith to their own devices. Pidge and Keith were staring at Lance, Keith trying to decide if he shouhld ask what the argument had been about as Lance reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Keith doesn’t remember when Lance started smoking, so in the end decided to ask if Lance was alright.

“Everything okay?” Pidge let go of him then, moving over to the cooler on the counter and grabbing two bottles of beer, cracking them open and leaving the kitchen then, throwing Keith a look over her shoulder before disappearing into the living room.

“Yeah.” Lance insisted, lighting up and taking a drag into his lungs. Keith knew it was bad when Lance decided not to elaborate, but he didn’t really know what to say in response. He hopped up to sit on the counter, and Lance followed suit, flicking the ash off of his cigarette before taking another puff of it. They remained silent, even as Lance offered the cigarette to him. Keith hesitated before leaning over to wrap his lips around the thin paper and inhale, even though it was still between Lance’s fingers, and watched through a thin veil of smoke as Lance took another drag himself, watching Keith watch him.

“You don’t seem fine.” Keith persisted.

Lance smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

* * *

“It feels like old times, doesn’t it?” Lance was bouncing in the driver's seat to the song playing over the radio, with Keith slouched in the passenger's seat and feet up on the dashboard. Lance was the only person that didn’t mind Keith’s dirty feet near their window.

“Hmm.” Keith didn’t particularly agree - Lance had always been considered the baby, so even though his uncle had provided them alcohol for their graduation they’d had to promise that they would stay inside and wouldn’t go out and do something stupid. Truth was, Lance’s uncle should’ve made Shiro and Matt promise that, considering they had taken the swift opportunity to get drunk and go _somewhere_ to mess around, leaving Lance, Hunk, Lotor, Pidge, and Keith to their Dungeons and Dragons game without their bard or warlock. They’d come up with a good enough excuse for their absence, but still.

Lance pulled into the parking lot of the old corner store, and Keith tried not to let his mind astral-project back into the past, when him and Lance would come here after school every day and drink soda on the sidewalk and count the red and blue cars going by.

Lance’s uncle Paz was sweeping the front, and hadn’t really looked up until Keith came into his peripheral vision. Then his face lit up, setting the broom aside and half-running half-limping to embrace Keith in a hug.

Lance’s family had always felt like Keith’s family, no matter how long Keith went without seeing them.

“Hey, tío.” he murmured into his shoulder, and he only grunted slightly at the heavy pat on his back.

“¿Cuánto tiempo estás aquí?” Paz asked as Keith pulled away. When his hair was ruffled this time he didn’t mind so much, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Until school starts at the end of August.” he promptly ignored the butterflies filling up his stomach as Lance sidled up to his side and draped an arm around his shoulders, grin plastered on his face.

“Shiro said he’s been moping around in his room. No more of that, right?” he hip-checked Keith, and Keith nudged him back, cheeks flushed.

“Fine…” he agreed, even though if his time out of his room meant spending time with Lance (without his boyfriend) he might be okay with it.

“Come hang out with us again before you leave, mijo.” Paz smiled, and Keith nodded his head in agreement, letting Lance drag him into the corner store and glancing around. Nothing had changed the entire time Lance’s uncle had owned the corner store; it still had the old signs for the sections, still had the old drawings him and Lance used to do in crayon behind the counter. Country was playing over the radio station, as it usually was whenever they stepped foot inside, and Keith rolled his eyes as Lance sent a smirk his way. He didn’t respond, going over to the refrigerators to tug out two packs of Blue Ribbon from the depths. He passed one over to Lance, who simply set it down in favor of dancing around the aisles to the song playing from the radio in the corner.

“They wanted shots, right?” Keith asked, sighing when Lance ignored the question to lip-sync; _“I wanna do bad things to you.”_

“Get Fireball.” Lance replied finally, and Keith grimaced at him.

“Does _anyone_ there like Fireball?” despite his grimace his eyes were trained on where Lance’s undershirt was riding up to expose his hip bones, flannel falling off his frame to expose his shoulder as well. Keith felt weak in the knees.

“Shiro and Matt, but they’re weird.” Lance continued to dance down the aisles as Keith picked up everything their friends had asked for. He wants to complain and make Lance help him, but he seems happier than he’d been since his argument with Lotor, so Keith felt bad about badgering him. He just wanted Lance to be happy. Keith scratched at his head in confusion, getting Fireball as requested of Lance and debating between the Smirnoff or Jose Cuervo. In the end Keith grabbed both. He busied himself with grabbing some chasers and snack foods, trying to keep his eyes off of Lance to avoid staring. By the time he got to the counter, though, he was just openly watching Lance dance, and Lance was watching _him._

Keith feels like he might choke.

It took him two seconds too long to respond when Paz asked if they needed help loading things into Lance’s truck.

When they returned to the party everyone was in the pool, and Lance was quick to drag Keith down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Lotor so Keith could borrow a pair of trunks. Keith felt awkward as he let his jean jacket slip off of his shoulders, setting it on the dresser and moving out of the way as Lance rummaged through his things to shove a pair of trunks at Keith - blue. Go figure. He wiggled out of his skinny jeans, forcing himself to face away from Lance. They’d never really been too nervous to undress in front of each other, but the boundaries had skewed and gotten weird when Lance had started to date Lotor. Since then Keith made a point to keep his eyes averted. Regardless, he found his eyes wandering up to watch Lance in the reflection of the mirror, quickly glancing away after trailing his eyes down the slope of his slouched back. He slipped into the trunks, swallowing thickly before glancing back up at Lance to see him watching him through the reflection. Keith turned to look at him - the silence felt heavy, like there were a _lot_ of things that were going unsaid, but neither of them dared say any of it.

“ _Shiro and Matthew sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”_ travelled through the open window, followed by Pidge and Lotor snickering. Lance looked away, scratching at the back of his neck before making his way for the door.

“Let’s go see what they’re up to.” he took Keith’s hand, skin soft and warm as he intertwined their fingers together. It wasn’t until they got to the backdoor that Lance released his hand, and Keith couldn’t help the empty feeling that flooded into his chest as Lance made his way over to Lotor. He watched for a single moment, until Lotor ripped his hand from Lance’s with a hiss into Lance’s ear, and then decided to just get into the pool.

“Keith, want a drink?” Matt questioned from where he was making a mixed drink at the outside bar with Shiro unabashedly in his space, face in Matt’s neck and arms around his waist from behind like no one else was around.

“No thanks.” is all he said when Pidge latched herself onto him, climbing up onto his shoulders.

“I’ll have one!” Lotor interjected, moving away from where Lance was trying to have a conversation with him to make his way to the bar. Matt nodded his head, grabbing another red solo cup and beginning to mix another drink, laughing and nudging Shiro away good naturedly. Keith couldn’t help but compare them to Lance and Lotor, who seemed to be having nothing but problems since Keith arrived. Keith hooked his arms around Pidge’s feet before dunking them both underwater, feeling her feet kick at him in an attempt to right herself in the water. When he emerged Lance was jumping into the water, wrestling Pidge and laughing as she attempted to dunk him. When Pidge finally gave up - for the moment - Lance turned to Keith, expression going soft as he waded his way over. Keith sucked some water into his cheeks, spitting it into Lance’s face when he was in range. Lance shut his eyes and scrunched his nose up, giggle leaving him as he gently nudged Keith’s head to the side. Keith’s breath hitched in his throat as Lance tangled his fingers into his wet hair, trying hard to resist the urge to gravitate closer.

The moment was broken with Lotor jumping into the pool next to them, the two of them tearing away from each other to flinch away from the splash.

“What’s up with you today, Lance? You’re so quiet.” he was saying, grabbing his boyfriend in a headlock that seemed too tight to be playful. Keith stared, feeling his anger begin to claw its way from his gut up his throat.

“Your breath stinks. I told you not to drink.” Keith was actually close enough to hear Lance this time, and he almost puked his heart into the depths of the pool when Lotor dunked Lance underwater.

“I can’t hear you! What did you say?” Lotor laughed. Keith hesitated for a split moment, wondering if he should intervene, but Lance had been underwater for a second too long and he could see his best friend struggling. He pushed himself from the edge and grappled at Lotor, grunting when he was elbowed in the ribs but didn’t stop until Lotor had let Lance go and his friend was emerging from the water.

“Chill out and go drink some water or something.” Keith hissed, shoving Lotor in the chest and wading between him and Lance. Lotor made a move to shove back but Matt was behind him immediately, tugging him away and towards the steps.

“It’s alright, buddy. Let’s go somewhere else for a bit.” he insisted, and Keith had never been more thankful for Matt in his entire life. He heaved a deep sigh, turning to Lance as he heard his gasping stop, giving him a concerned look. Lotor was shooting him venom over Lance’s shoulder, and he stared back blankly, not letting it up until Lotor turned away first, to give Lance his full attention again.

“Lance…”

But Lance was shaking his head, looking away from him and swimming his way to the edge of the pool and tugging himself out. Keith _didn’t_ watch the way his trunks dipped low with the weight of the water. Then Lance was sitting at the edge and offering Keith his hands, and Keith dragged himself to the edge, letting Lance tug him the rest of the way. “Let’s just shower and get redressed.” Lance insisted. Keith hummed in agreement, but couldn’t help but still feel worried anyways.

 

* * *

 

A hot shower and good five minute sit later Keith found himself back in the living room. He plopped himself down next to Hunk, who had been spending the majority of his time there with his girlfriend Shay, and Allura, who was enamored in Shay’s geology major talk. They hadn’t stopped talking about it; Keith tried to listen for about five minutes before he gave up. Lotor, Shiro, and Matt came through the front door then, Shiro and Matt seeming their usual smitten selves and Lotor seeming to have calmed down. He also seemed tipsy, even as he went to the kitchen to get another drink, wobbling along the way. Keith took a sip of his pineapple juice, giving Shiro and Matt a small smile as Pidge and Lance trampled down the hallway and plopped onto the couch next to Keith. They both wrestled for the spot immediately at his side, but in the end Lance’s long limbs were able to overtake Pidge’s short ones, and she was exiled to the space between Keith’s feet. She made herself comfortable there, though, head resting against his knee as Lance curled up with his long legs draping over the armrest.

Lance settled his head on the cushion next to Keith’s, fond written all over his face as Keith smiled at him over the rim of his red solo cup. As if on cue Lotor made his way over, grabbing Lance by the arm and tugging him up from his seat on the couch to wrap his arms around his waist and bury his face into Lance’s neck. Keith tried to keep his smile on his face, as if he weren’t bothered by it, but as Lotor’s hands made their way up Lance’s shirt he couldn’t help it when his smile turned into a grimace, looking away to watch Matt and Shiro set up another game of beer pong. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lance shove Lotor away, glancing sideways when his friend plopped unceremoniously back onto the couch next to him. Keith glanced between Lance and Lotor, ignoring the latter’s seething as he took another sip of his juice, hooking his ankle around Lance’s.

Two hours of beer pong, Pidge cuddles, and dozing later Keith dragged himself off the couch in a haze, rubbing at his eyes and glancing around. The beer pong table had been pushed aside so Pidge, Shay, Allura, and Hunk could play Cards Against Humanity (Pidge had the most black cards so far), Lotor was asleep on the loveseat opposite Keith, and Shiro, Matt, and Lance were missing. He stretched, groaning as he stepped over Allura’s long legs to go peek outside. Lance was sitting by the pool with his feet in the water. Keith glanced back at Lotor, who was still fast asleep, before slipping outside and going to sit at the edge of the pool with Lance. Neither of them said anything as Keith dipped his feet in the water, staring into the pool and trying to figure out if he should say anything. Lance was obviously upset, but both of them knew Keith had never been very good at words. Even two years ago, when Lotor had ditched prom and left Lance hanging Keith had said nothing; had just walked across the street to pry Lance out of bed and haul him into the pick-up and take him to prom anyways. Had said nothing when he’d found Lance crying by himself on the balcony because Lotor wouldn’t pick up the phone; had taken Lance’s hand to drag him to the dance floor so they could dance to _Safety Dance_ by Men Without Hats even though Keith found that song atrocious. Said nothing when Lance’s enthusiasm had ebbed away and they snuck back to the hotel room their friends were staying in, curling up under the covers and watching _Scrubs_ on Lance’s Netflix app. “I’m Turk, and you’re JD.” Lance had said.

“Since when have I ever chased skirts?” Keith had asked bluntly, and Lance had snorted, giggling into Keith’s shoulder.

“True.” he’d acceded.

Lance rested his head on Keith’s shoulder, and Keith sighed heavily, resting his cheek on Lance’s hair. Their pinkies intertwined, and Keith tried not to think much of it - of the close proximity, of the looks Lance had been giving him all day, of the way he’d _felt_ all day. Then Lance was turning his head, slowly, hesitantly, so close Keith feels like he might implode when their noses touch. Their lips just brush together when a hand is tugging him back by the mullet, throwing him to the concrete where he hits his head, _hard._ He thinks he hears shouting but his vision is swimming and his ears are ringing.

“With _him?_ Are you fucking _serious_ ?” Lotor was saying, Lance’s conflicted eyes looking between the boy shouting in his face and Keith on the ground. “Don’t look at him! Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Keith’s vision and hearing swam again as his head throbbed; Lance was shouting back but Keith couldn’t hear what he was saying. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, placing a hand against his head to try to dull the ache. “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you even good for _anything_ ? Last time I checked, you’ve done absolutely _nothing_ and have been _good for nothing_ , so next time you-”

Keith saw red.

He’d never pounced on anyone so fast but within the next moment he was on top of Lotor and pummeling him, fists punching into his pretty face and so angry he couldn’t say anything, just seething and shouting incomprehensibly as he bloodied the other’s face. Lotor was punching back, but Keith wasn’t satisfied even with his cheek pounding and lip bleeding. Keith’s ears were still ringing, he could hardly hear Lance calling his name, calling Hunk and Shiro and Matt. It felt like a distant dream until he was being dragged away, his knuckles bruised and bloody as he wrestled against Shiro and Matt.

“Keith.” Shiro’s parent voice again; Keith must’ve really fucked up. “Breathe.” he forced himself to relax, but regretted it when he did. As the adrenaline in his system started to fade he could feel the pain more; his head, his busted lip, his bruising cheek. He slouched to his knees, grimacing and blinking tears out of his eyes. Lance emerged from behind Allura then, eyes wet and guilt written all over his face. Keith looked away from him, swallowing thickly.

“Can I have some ice?” he asked, and Matt nodded, excusing himself to run back into the house. Shiro sighed, wrapping an arm around Keith’s waist and dragging him to his feet.

“We should get you home.” Keith didn’t disagree; he definitely didn’t want to be _here_ anymore, so he just nodded and let Shiro lead him back into the house in a haze, hand pressed to his head and thanking Matt when he handed him a bag of ice from the freezer. The problem was that Keith wasn’t entirely sure where he wanted to ice first.

“I’ll take him.” Shiro looked over his shoulder before nodding, passing Keith off to Lance as if he actually needed help walking. Keith didn’t object the help, though. He just wanted to make sure Lance was okay, and he could do that if Lance was with him. Lance guided him outside back to the old pickup truck, helping Keith get into the passenger's seat before holding a finger up in front of Keith’s face. “Follow my finger.” he instructed, and Keith did so, watching Lance wave his finger back and forth. After a few moments Lance stopped, seeming satisfied. “Alright… I think you’re okay. Maybe.” then he shut the door for Keith and rounded to the other side, climbing in and starting the car. The silence was heavy again.

“You’re not good for nothing.” Keith stated. Lance sucked in a breath, letting out a sigh that sounded exactly like he didn’t want to have this conversation. “You’ve never been good for nothing. The fact that he even dares say that to you-...” Keith was seething again, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he tried to reign it back in, fists clenching in his lap. His head was pounding. “As if he isn’t living right out of his rich daddy’s pocket. Fucking infuriating…” he fumed. Lance was quiet, staring at the road with his hands on the steering wheel. Keith wished the radio was on.

“Then why did you leave?”

“What?”

“If I’m not good for nothing then why did you leave?” Lance glanced sideways at him before staring back at the road again. It took two seconds for Keith to comprehend, and a fraction of that time for him to feel guilty. _Very_ guilty.

“I just-... I felt like I was in the way.” he admitted, opting for staring out the passenger's side window. He could faintly see himself; bloody lip, purple cheek, tousled hair. What a mess.

Keith remembered Lance’s heartbroken face when Keith had shown him his acceptance letter to Oregon State two years ago, how Lance had tried to force a smile onto his face to say ‘congratulations’ but had only ended up asking ‘ _why_ ’ instead. Keith had said he’d just needed a change, but the truth was he’d been running away. He shouldn’t have let Lance’s relationship with Lotor dictate his life but the thought of going away so he wouldn’t have to watch it had sounded so good. It just _hurt._ Watching Lance with someone else had always hurt.

“... I needed you.” Lance’s admittance hit Keith in the chest like a kick from a horse, and he was crying again, but not out of anger this time. The salt from his tears stung at his split lip, and not for the first time that day Keith didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry.”

 

* * *

 

Instead of Keith’s house, Lance drove them to his parent’s house, which was right across the street. Keith figured it was probably better that way; Shiro’s parents would ask where he is, what happened to Keith, why isn’t Shiro with him, is Shiro okay? And he didn’t feel like dealing with that. He followed Lance into the familiar hallway, taking in the familiar smell of _picadillo_ cooking in the kitchen.

“Paz? ¿Eres tu?”

“No, mama.” Lance replied, and Lance’s mom peeked out of the kitchen curiously. “I brought Keith.” he toed his shoes off his feet and Keith followed suit, kicking his shoes into the wicker basket full of them as he carefully held the ice to his head.

“Keith! It’s good to see you! Did you guys get into trouble?” she questioned as she stepped out of view, returning to give Keith a new pack of ice that wasn’t quite so melty. Keith took it gratefully, hesitant smile on his lips as she took the melted ice from his hands.

“Lo siento…” he trailed off, but she waved him away, spanking Lance towards the stairs.

“Go upstairs, you two. Dinner will be ready soon.”

They both made their way up the steps, Keith taking in all of the photos lining the staircase on his way up, glancing back at the grandfather clock ticking away at the base of the stairs before following Lance into his bedroom. Save for some missing picture frames everything in Lance’s room still looked the same as when Keith last saw it, and he made his way over to the window to stare out at the backyard. Lance’s siblings were out on the deck, either jumping on the trampoline or shouting Harry Potter spells at each other with pocket-knife carved twigs for wands. A smile tugged at his lips.

“You should sit down.” Lance insisted, and Keith rolled his eyes, turning to look at Lance with mild irritation.

“I’m fine.” he insisted. Lance leveled him with a look of equal irritation, and after a good two minute staring contest Keith gave in and made his way to sit at the edge of Lance’s bed. But the blankets were so comfy that he lied back also, arm tucked under his head. Lance got settled next to him, on his side and staring at Keith’s bruised cheek. He reached out to touch it, thumb gingerly brushing over it. Keith held his breath, and then hissed and nudged Lance away when the other boy pressed down, grimacing when Lance snickered.

“Sorry. You kind of deserved that.” Keith didn’t disagree. They just stared at each other for a long time, Lance watching Keith’s eyelids droop every once in awhile. “Don’t fall asleep.” Lance whispered, and Keith hummed even though he’s not sure if he could help it at this point. Lance reached over to him again and Keith grunted in warning, and Lance laughed but didn’t mess with him anymore, thumb tracing careful patterns on his skin. Keith’s eyelids fluttered closed at the sensation. He wasn’t falling asleep, he was just relaxing. _A lot._ He wasn’t going to drift off.

He could feel the bed move underneath him, hear the creak that came with it, and felt Lance press a kiss to his lips. It stung his busted lip but he kissed back, grabbing blindly at Lance’s flannel to keep him tugged in close. Lance’s fingers entangling in his hair felt like heaven, until he brushed against the spot he’d bumped his head. But Keith only gasped into his mouth, reaching up to adjust Lance’s grip before kissing him again, shivering when Lance took the initiative to climb on top of him and straddle his waist. One of Keith’s hands traveled under Lance’s undershirt to caress the skin of his back, relishing in the goosebumps his touch was leaving behind. Lance whimpered quietly into his mouth, and Keith was about to take it as a sign to start taking clothes _off_ but then they could hear tromping up the steps and they tore apart frantically, Lance rolling off of Keith and leaving Keith lying there breathless as Lance’s little sister bounded into the room.

“Lance! Hey Keith!” she greeted, crawling her way into Lance’s lap and clinging onto his neck like a sloth. He grinned, cheeks red as he picked her up, and the two of them looked down at Keith.

“Hey, Marisol.” he managed. She smiled at him, then at Lance, and then squirmed out of Lance’s grip so that he would set her down.

“Mama said dinner is ready!” and then she was darting out of the room again as if she’d never come in. They both just stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before they started laughing.

“You hungry?” Lance asked, and Keith hummed thoughtfully before nodding and slowly sitting up, making sure his head didn’t start swimming so he could push himself to his feet.

“Oh, yeah. Starving.” he gave Lance a sharkish grin, and Lance flushed before huffing and leaving the room.

“You’re the worst.” he laughed.

Keith agreed, a little.

But he was just glad to be home.

**Author's Note:**

> talk klance to me on tumblr @ dwreed


End file.
